Excuse the language 🙈Apparently my inner creativity self has a foul mouth and knows no bounds! 😈 This quote just came to me and I had to have a stab at creating my very own Quote Picture/Word Art. I was inspired after listening to Brene Brown on how unused creativity is dangerous, and there are people out there that will purposely shame you to make themselves feel good.

🎬 At the cinema. Both my hands are full holding the all important film sustenance (nachos, Pepsi, popcorn, etc).I get to the door of the cinema screen. Hmm did not think this through. Can not open the door. I stand there helplessly whilst thinking of a balancing act strategy.
Luckily I see a couple coming. I do my best puppy dog eyes, and look at them, then the door and then my hands holding the cinema snacks. For some reason I am doing the whole thing in silence – as if I’m in a Charlie Chaplin movie.

The guy valiantly opens the door for me. I thank him profusely. He now looks like a hero in front of his girlfriend. He can thank me later.

I walk down the stairs and I’m praying there’s not another set of doors. There is. Crap.

They’re trailing quite far behind me.

I now stand helplessly (again) in front of the second set of doors. The guy then has to do the quick run (the run people do when you keep holding the door open behind you – but they are too far away – so they have to quicken their step – and you’re a jerk for making them run for no reason).

Anyways, he again graciously opens the door for me.

Me: “Sorry, I’m being a total princess – demanding you now open all the doors for me!”

Inspired by books that encourage being creative (namely How To Steal Like An Artist and Show Your Work by Austin Kleon), and psychologist Brene Brown on the benefits of being creative, and watching the inspirational and captivating YouTube videos of philosopher/film maker Jason Silva, I felt the desire to have a go at trying to create something.

This is my first attempt.

I love those quote pictures that you see on Facebook, and love short prose, so I wanted to have a dab at trying to write something myself.

” I tended to overrate the fun activities that I didn’t do and underrate my own inclinations. I felt like the things that other people enjoyed were more valuable, or more cultured…more, well, legitimate. But now it was time to ‘Be Gretchen’. I needed to acknowledge to myself what I enjoyed, not what I wished I enjoyed.” – Gretchen Rubin (The Happiness Project).

“Over the last few years, I’ve started figuring out what I really find fun. I realised I had a lot of stuff and activities in my life that I didn’t enjoy. These were things that others find fun, but they just weren’t to me.

“Accepting that what others find fun won’t necessarily be fun for me felt like a huge breakthrough. It’s hard enough to stay in touch with what’s fun for you, without thinking that you should like something that others find fun.” – Anon blog reader (The Happiness Project).

I love trying new things, and I can get real obsessed and passionate about a new activity, and then go and buy all the paraphernalia, but I can just as quickly lose interest and get distracted by something else. My brother says I’m fickle. Maybe I am. I’m not a master of anything, I don’t have the desire to commit to any one thing, and put in the hours to become skilled at it, but I’ve embraced that part of me, and realised that I am instead a constant struggling interested student/amateur/learner of a lot of things. I’m an introvert at heart, and a lot of the activities I enjoy doing are quiet and solitary. I’ve given myself permission to do things I like doing, and not be concerned with what I should like doing, or what others like doing. We are all different and have our own unique likes and dislikes of what we like to do for fun in our spare time.

A list of some of the things I enjoy and like doing (this list is nowhere near exhaustive):

reading books

watching films (at the cinema/home), tv shows

writing in my notebook – verbatim notes of things I read in books that I love and find inspirational – for no reason other than having a collection of my favourite writings

listening to music (both live at concerts/gigs, and on my iPod)

learning to play the piano (no matter how badly I sound or how slow I am)

visiting museums, and exploring new places like cafes and restaurants. And castles – I have a thing about castles.

going to theatre shows

writing

taking pictures

reading about positive psychology and creativity.

Reader, what things do you find fun and enjoyable? Share your own list in the comments below!

“There’s no such thing as ‘oh I’m not creative’, there are people that use their creativity, and those that don’t. Unused creativity is dangerous, it turns into grief, judgement and rage, it’s poison”. Brené Brown